Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

SnoopyStyle It's Glace Bay, Nova Scotia in the 1940s. Almost everyone works in the dangerous coal mine and there is a Chinese diner in town. Margaret MacNeil (Helena Bonham Carter) falls for bagpipe-playing Neil Currie (Clive Russell) who got himself fired from the mine. She lives with her mother Catherine (Kate Nelligan), younger brother Jimmy, father Angus (Kenneth Welsh), grandfather Dunald who suffers from black lung, and others. She continues to lose family to the mine. Jimmy has an illicit romance with mine manager's daughter Marilyn. Neil uses discarded materials to build a house overlooking the sea for Margaret. In a flashforward at the start of the movie, Margaret is running a museum in the house which horrified a visitor sending her running.Paraphrasing the famous Se7en line. What's in the Museum!? Other than that, the story is a little rambling. The central relationship isn't that dramatic. There are very few hurdles for their pairing. It delivers a compelling sense of the place. The tension is simply not that high. It does have a shock for the ending. I certainly understand the difficulty in adapting the novel but it's not dramatic enough (except for What's in the Museum!).

Harriet Deltubbo The setup: In a town where half the men die down the coalpit, Margaret MacNeil is quite happy being single. Until she meets Neil Currie, a charming and sincere bagpipe-playing, Gaelic-speaking dishwasher. But no matter what you do, you can't avoid the spectre of the pit forever.The verdict: The characters in this film have a lot of depth, and that makes all the difference. In the end, the audience gets a casserole of film elements and little of the satisfaction that comes from watching these types of movies. This is a story about a place most people might not be able to conceive. It is a powerful film, but I doubt I will ever want to watch it again.

ronchow I have forgotten the reason that prompted me to seek out this film, but I did. And it was a pleasant surprise. The film was slow, but acting was good, and the depiction of a mining community in the 50's fairly realistic.Helena B.C. looked commonplace without the heavy makeup required for most of her roles in the likes of 'Room With A View', and looked natural and well-fitted for her role. The background music was well chosen, and very becoming of the stage it set, as was the scenery.Overall, this film is a small gem. Too bad it has been little known and not promoted properly.

aimless-46 "Margaret's Museum" is a quirky little independent Canadian film made over 10 years ago, featuring an impressive performance by Helen Bonham Carter (trying to do something other than English period pieces) as the title character. Carter is one of the most talented contemporary actresses and her failure to become a major star is a bit of a puzzle. The film's obscurity is not such a puzzle, it contains just enough wry humor and off-kilter behavior to offend those who take its political message seriously and not enough to become a cult classic. The producers should have amped up the weirdness level a bit. It will remind viewers of "New Waterford Girl", not just because both were filmed in Nova Scotia, but because the heroines are similar as is the theme of diminished small town expectations. It is probably safe to say that these are the only feature films that reference the town of Antigonish. Gaelic lovers should especially enjoy "Margaret's Museum as it includes a lot of traditional music. If you are a Scotsman at heart you will pick up on obscure references to things like The Battle of Culloden" (i.e. Bonnie Prince Charlie 1746). Margaret MacNeil lives with her widowed mother in a small company town in Nova Scotia (1949 judging by the cars). The economy revolves around the coal mine and the story has all the "I owe my soul to the company store" elements (''Sons and Lovers'' and ''The Molly Maguires'' are unfunny examples). Margaret's father and older brother were killed in the mine and her grandfather is barely able to breathe after years of working in "the pit". The broken nature of the family and the cause are symbolized by their house, once a duplex the other unit was destroyed when a portion of the tunnel underneath collapsed. Margaret falls in love with and marries Neil Currie (Clive Russell), at least in part because he has quit mining work for good. Neil is a giant of a man who incessantly plays the bagpipes, speaks in the Gaelic dialect, drinks a lot, and composes traditional tunes. Of course with all the emphasis on Neil staying out of the mines you just know that he will eventually go back to work there. There is a coming of age side story about Margaret's younger brother Jimmy (Craig Olejnik), but it is given too little emphasis to be much of a factor. It does introduce a bit of irony as Jimmy is expected to be the family member who breaks the mold and escapes, but his first love makes him reluctant to leave the town for better things. Kate Nelligan plays Margaret's deservedly fatalistic mother and creates a complex character. Watch how this hardened woman occasionally exhibits a ray of optimism and even a slight bit of hope for her daughter. The title refers to Margaret's "Cost of Coal" museum which she opens as an expression righteous indignation. The museum sequences bookend the main story (told in a long flashback). If not on the perfection level of "New Waterford Girl", the fine performances and the excellent production design make "Margaret's Museum" well worth watching. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.